Teigue of the Lee

"I CAN'T stop in the house - I won't
stop in it for all the money that is buried in the old. castle of Carrigrohan.
if ever there was such a thing in the world ! -. to be abused to my face night
and day, and nobody to the fore doing it ! and then, if I'm angry, to be
laughed at with a great roaring ho, ho, ho ! I won't stay in the house after,
to-night, if there was not another place in the country to put my head
under." This angry soliloquy was pronounced in the hall of the old
manor-house of Carrigrohan by John Sheehan. John was a new servant; be had
been only three days in the house, which had the character of being haunted,
and in that short space of time be had been abused and laughed at, by a voice
which sounded as if a man spoke with his head in a cask; nor could he discover
who was the speaker, or from whence the voice came. "I'll not stop
here," said John; "and that ends the matter."

"Ho, ho, ho ! be quiet, John Sheehan,
or else worse will happen to you."

John instantly ran to the hall window, as
the words were evidently spoken by a person immediately outside, but no one
was visible. He had scarcely placed his face at the pane of glass, when he
heard another loud "Ho, ho, ho !" as if behind him in the hall; as
quick as lightning he turned his head, but no living thing was to be seen.

"Ho, ho, ho, John !" shouted a
voice that appeared to come from the lawn before the house; do you think
you'll see Teigue? - oh, never ! as long as you live ! so leave alone looking
after him, and mind your business; there's plenty of company to dinner from
Cork to be here to-day, and 'tis time you had the cloth laid."

"Lord bless us ! there's more of it !
- I'll never stay another day here," repeated John.

"Hold your tongue, and stay where you
are quietly, and play no tricks on Mr. Pratt, as you did on Mr. Jervois about
the spoons."

John Sheehan was confounded by this address
from his invisible persecutor, but nevertheless he mustered courage enough to
say -" Who are you? - come here, and let me see you, if you are a
man;" but he received in reply only a laugh of unearthly derision, which
was followed by a " Good-by - I'll watch you at dinner, John!"

"Lord between us and harm ! this beats
all ! - I'll watch you at dinner ! - maybe you will; - 'tis the broad
daylight, so 'tis no ghost; but this is a terrible place, and this is the last
day I'll stay in it. How does he know about the spoons? - if he tells it, I'm
a ruined man ! - there was no living soul could tell it to him but Tim
Barrett, and he's far enough off in the wilds of Botany Bay now, so how could
he know it - I can't tell for the world ! But what's that I see there at the
corner of the wall ! - 'tis not a man! - oh, what a fool I am ! 't is only the
old stump of a tree! - But this is a shocking place - I'll never stop in it,
for I'll leave the house tomorrow; the very look of it is enough to frighten
any one."

The mansion had~ certainly an air of
desolation; it was situated in a lawn, which had nothing to break its uniform
level, save a few tufts of narcissuses and a couple of old trees coeval with
the building. The house stood at a short distance from the road, it was
upwards of a century old, and Time was doing his work upon it; its walls were
weather-stained in all colours, its roof showed various white patches, it had
no look of comfort; all was dim and dingy without, and within there was an air
of gloom; of departed and departing greatness, which harmonised well with the
exterior. It required all the exuberance of youth and of gaiety to remove the
impression, almost amounting to awe, with which you trod the huge square hail,
paced along the gallery which surrounded the hall, or explored the long
rambling passages below stairs,. The ball-room, as the large drawing-room was
called, and several other apartments, were in a state of decay: the walls were
stained with damp; and I remember well the sensation of awe which I felt
creeping over me when, boy as I was, and full of boyish life, and wild and
ardent spirits, I descended to the vaults; all without and within me became
chilled beneath their dampness and gloom - their extent, too, terrified me;
nor could the merriment of my two schoolfellows, whose father; a respectable
clergyman, rented the dwelling for a time, dispel the feelings of a romantic
imagination until I once again ascended to the upper regions.

John had pretty well recovered himself as
the dinner-hour approached, and the several guests arrived. They were all
seated at table, and had begun to enjoy the excellent repast, when a voice was
heard from the lawn : -

"That is Teigue," said Mr. Pratt,
laughing, whom you must often have heard me mention."

"And pray, Mr. Pratt," enquired
another gentleman, " who is Teigue.?"

"That," he replied, "is more
than I can tell. No one has ever been able to catch even a glimpse of him. I
have been on the watch for a whole evening with three of my sons, yet,
although his voice sometimes sounded almost in my ear, I could not see him. I
fancied, indeed, that I saw a man in a white frieze jacket pass into the door
from the garden to the lawn, but it could be only fancy, for I found the door
locked, while the fellow, whoever he is, was laughing at our trouble. He
visits us occasionally, and sometimes a long interval passes between his
visits, as in the present case; it is now nearly two years since we heard that
hollow voice outside the window. He has never done any injury that we know of;
and once when he broke a plate, he brought one back exactly like it."

"It is very extraordinary," said
several of the company.

"But," remarked a gentleman to
young Mr. Pratt, "your father said he broke a plate; how did he get it
without your seeing him?"

"When he asks for some dinner, we put
it outside the window and go away; whilst we watch he will not take it, but no
sooner have we withdrawn than it is gone."

"How does he know that you are
watching?"

"That's more than I can tell, but he
either knows or suspects. One day my brothers Robert and James with myself
were in our back parlour, which has a window into the garden, when he came
outside and said, 'Ho, ho, ho ! master James, and Robert, and Henry, give poor
Teigue a glass of whiskey.' James went out of the room, filled a glass with
whiskey, vinegar, and salt, and brought it to him. ' Here, Teigue,' said he,
come for it now.' 'Well, put it down, then, on the step outside the window.'
This was done, and we stood looking at it. 'There, now, go away,' he shouted.
We retired, but still watched it. ' Ho, ho ! you are watching Teigue; go out
of the room, now, or I won't take it.' We went outside the door and returned,
the glass was gone, and a moment after we heard him roaring and cursing
frightfully. He took away the glass, but the next day the glass was on the
stone step under the window, and there were crumbs of bread in the inside, as
if he had put it in his pocket,; from that time he was not heard till
to-day."

"Oh," said the colonel, "
I'll get a sight of him; you are not used to these things; an old soldier has
the best chance; and as I shall finish my dinner with this wing, I'll be ready
for him when he speaks next. Mr. Bell, will you take a glass of wine with
me?"

"Ho, ho ! Mr. Bell," shouted
Teigue. " Ho, ho! Mr. Bell, you were a quaker long ago. Ho, ho ! Mr.
Bell, you're a pretty boy; - a pretty quaker you were; and now you're no
quaker, nor any thing else : - ho, ho ! Mr. Bell. And there's Mr. Parkes: to
be sure, Mr. Parkes looks mighty fine to-day, with his powdered head, and his
grand silk stockings, and his bran new rakish-red waistcoat. - And there's Mr.
Cole, - did you ever see such a fellow? a pretty company you've brought
together, Mr. Pratt: kiln-dried quakers, butter-buying buckeens from
Mallow-lane, and a drinking exciseman from the Coal-quay, to meet the great
thundering artillery-general that is come out of the Indies, and is the
biggest dust of them all."

"You scoundrel !" exclaimed the
colonel: "I'll make you show yourself;" and snatching up his sword
from a corner of the room, he sprang out of the window upon the lawn. In a
moment a shout of laughter, so hollow, so unlike any human sound, made him
stop, as well as Mr. Bell, who with a huge oak stick was close at the
colonel's heels; others of the party followed on the lawn, and the remainder
rose and went to the windows.

"Ho, ho! Mr. Bell, here I am - here's
Teigue - why don't you catch him? - Ho, ho! colonel Pratt, what a pretty
soldier you are to draw your sword upon poor Teigue, that never did any body
harm."

"Let us see your face, you
scoundrel," said the colonel.

"Ho, ho, ho ! - look at me - look at
me: do you see the wind, colonel Pratt? - you'll see Teigue as soon; so go in
and finish your dinner."

"If you're upon the earth I'll find
you, you villain !" said the colonel, whilst the same unearthly shout of
derision seemed to come from behind an angle of the building. "He's round
that corner," said Mr. Bell - " run, run."

They followed the sound, which was
continued at intervals along the garden wall, but could discover no human
being; at last both stopped to draw breath, and in an instant, almost at their
ears, sounded the shout.

"Ho, ho, ho ! colonel Pratt, do you
see Teigue now ? - do you hear him ? - Ho, ho, ho ! you're a fine colonel to
follow the wind."

"Not that way, Mr. Bell - not that
way; come here," said the colonel.

"Ho, ho, ho ! what a fool you are; do
you think Teigue is going to show himself to you in the field, there? But,
colonel, follow me if you can : - you a soldier ! - ho, ho, ho !" The
colonel was enraged - he followed the voice over hedge and ditch, alternately
laughed at and taunted by the unseen object of his pursuit - (Mr. Bell, who
was heavy, was soon thrown out), until at length, after being led a weary
chase, he found him self at the top of the cliff over that part of the river
Lee which, from its great depth, and the blackness of its water, has received
the name of Hell-hole. Here, on the edge of the cliff, stood the colonel out
of breath, and mopping his forehead with his handkerchief; while the voice,
which seemed close at his feet, exclaimed -" Now, colonel Pratt - now, if
you 're a soldier, here's a leap for you; - now look at Teigue - why don't you
look at him? - Ho, ho, ho! Come along: you're warm, I'm sure, colonel Pratt,
so come in and cool yourself; Teigue is going to have a swim !" The voice
seemed as descending amongst the trailing ivy and brushwood which clothes this
picturesque cliff nearly from top to bottom, yet it was impossible that any
human being could have found footing. "Now, colonel, have you courage to
take the leap? - Ho, ho, ho ! what a pretty soldier you are. Good-by - I'll
see you again in ten minutes above, at the house - look at your watch colonel:
- there's a dive for you;" and a heavy plunge into the water was heard.
The colonel stood still, but no sound followed, and he walked slowly back to
the house, not quite half a mile from the Crag."

"Well, did you see Teigue?" said
his brother, whilst his nephews, scarcely able to smother their laughter,
stood by." Give me some wine," said the colonel. " I never was
led such a dance in my life: the fellow carried me all round and round, till
he brought me to the edge of the cliff', and then down he went into Hell-hole,
telling me he'd be here in ten minutes; 'tis more than that now, but he's not
come."

"Ho, ho, ho! colonel, is'nt he here? -
Teigue never told a lie in his life: but, Mr. Pratt, give me a drink and my
dinner, and then good night to you all, for I'm tired; and that's the
colonel's doing." A plate of food was ordered: it was placed by John,
with fear and trembling, on the lawn under the window. Every one kept on the
watch, and the plate remained undisturbed for some time.

"Ah! Mr. Pratt, will you starve poor
Teigue? Make every one go away from the windows, and master Henry out ofthe
tree, and master Richard off the garden wall."

The eyes of the company were turned to the
tree and the garden wall; the two boys' attention was occupied in getting
down: the visitors were looking at them; and "Ho, ho, ho! - good luck to
you, Mr. Pratt! - 'tis a good dinner, and there's the plate, ladies and
gentlemen - good bye to you, colonel - good-bye, Mr. Bell ! - good-bye to you
all " - brought their attention back, when they saw the empty plate lying
on the grass; and Teigue's voice was heard no more for that evening. Many
visits were afterwards paid by Teigue; but never was he seen, nor was any
discovery ever made of his person or character.